A Snowballs Chance
by GilShalos
Summary: “Why you!” She looked frantically around for something to throw, before grinning wickedly. She stooped, picked up some snow and quickly shaped it. OrphenCleo
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The usual, I don't own any of the characters in SSO.

Author's note: This is set after Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Revenge. Although the central characters are strictly based off the Anime, references will be made to a character from the manga and novels. I know basics about the character but not many details so the ones I came up with may not match canon. Simply consider the events around that character as alternate universe.

Also, this originally started out as a gift fic for Alchephiliac (Shardy) although it ended up extremely late as the story got longer then the oneshot it was originally intended to be. I'm rating it M because there are some…um…light sexual situations and implications but nothing explicit.

* * *

Reaching the top of a hill, Orphen looked back at his companions trudging slowly through the snow behind him. Although their movements indicated they were tired, he also saw that they were in good spirits bantering back and forth as usual, currently that including talking about previous snowball fights and threatening to start new ones. To them, although cold, this was fun. To him, this cold was nothing compared to the Tower winters or when he was on his own. Still it triggered memories both good and bad of his time at the Tower and the family he once had; a family that was now scattered. However, while cold only triggered memories, storms and blizzards were a different story, and he sensed that there was a big one coming. He could tell from the sharp cold smell in the air, nothing but the onslaught of snow was quite the same.

For that reason, he'd pushed them to walk through lunch and well into the afternoon. Although it was difficult to tell due to the snow, he figured they were less than two hours to Sun Lake and he wanted to make it to town rather then camp outside again. Last night, when the snow currently on the ground arrived, they were lucky to have found a cave just off the path. Although the current terrain promised much of the same, he really didn't want to spend another night on the road, especially considering the side effect blizzards had on magic. Better to make for the town with all possible haste.

He was still watching them when he made eye contact with Cleo and inwardly smirked. Keeping his face neutral, he prepared himself for what he knew what was coming. He knew he could solve the problem by explaining about the oncoming storm, but honestly, it was too much fun baiting her. Besides, he wanted to get to the inn, he had plans.

"Orphen…" she implored, "I'm tired and cold, can't we stop for the night?"

"No."

"But it's getting late, the sun's almost down and we need to get the fire going before dark…"

"I said no. Sun Lake's not far now."

"But Master, I thought we were still several hours…" Majic trailed off at the glare he received from Orphen.

"Several hours!" Cleo shrieked, "No way. We won't make it tonight." She pointed skyward,

"We're stopping now."

"Your choice." Orphen replied, "I'm going to town and the inn where it'll be warm and out of the snow. Come on, Majic."

"You wouldn't dare!" Cleo shouted, when Majic continued walking passing her and Orphen turned back down the path. "Why you!" She looked frantically around for something to throw, before grinning wickedly. She stooped, picked up some snow and quickly shaped it.

Orphen had stopped again just past the peak of the hill, to wait for Cleo or more specifically her reaction. He grinned faintly, expecting that she was in quite the rage now. Unable to suppress his curiosity and because he didn't hear her following, he turned back only to get smacked in the face with a snowball. Faintly as he was wiping the snow off his face he heard Majic smother a giggle and Cleo say "Oops."

Cleo braced herself; she'd just started something she wasn't sure she wanted to finish, even though her pride would demand that she gave it her best effort. She knew she meant to hit him on the back of the head and not in his face, not that he'd ever believe it. Sighing, she thought, 'In for a penny in for a pound, besides father always said own up to your mistakes.' She bent down and scooped up some more snow making another snowball. Once complete, she felt Orphen watching her every move like a hawk. Holding the snowball, she brazenly walked up to Orphen and offered him the snowball. "Believe it or not, I didn't mean to hit you in the face. Here." Cleo watched his eyes first widen in surprise then narrow in suspicion.

Orphen was utterly shocked when she up and offered the snowball to him, but he figured there was some sort of catch, so he simply turned away. He then noticed a low hanging branch a few footsteps ahead of him and a slow wicked smile crept onto his face. At least she was moving again so he continued down the path.

Cleo watched Orphen turn away again. Frowning she looked down at the snowball in her hand, 'What's the point?' she mused letting it slip from her fingers to fall on the ground. She took a few steps following them before realizing that since they weren't stopping, she couldn't either, 'After I adjust a few things that is…' she thought. Shivering slightly, she realized that with the rise in tension, which she admitted with a sigh, she caused, there would be no more talking and teasing for quite a while. If she wanted to stay warm, she figured she'd better change a few things. She dropped her pack on the ground, jostling Leki, who after a disgruntled whine jumped out and started sniffing around near Cleo's feet. Once the pack was out of the way, she started to move the cloak so she could cocoon herself in it better, However to do that, first she had to open it and that, unfortunately for her, was when Orphen's counter attack hit.

While Cleo was busy with her cloak, Orphen pulled the low hanging branch back and, with an evil grin, released it causing the branch to snap back towards Cleo, showering her with the snow that had accumulated on the branch.

Majic chortled as he listened to Cleo splutter incoherently going from shock to anger to utter disbelief. Ducking his head, he hid his mouth so she wouldn't see or hear him laughing because he knew that Master had just thrown down the gauntlet for a full fledged snowball fight and Cleo's aim was legendary back in Totokonta. Apparently, his Master did not register the danger or the fact he'd just covered her with the raw materials for killer snowball, because he laughed. Not just a little chuckle but an all out laugh. It was nice to hear since Orphen didn't laugh much. However, Majic could tell by the death glare she was giving Orphen that she wasn't in the mood to appreciate it.

She started to shake the snow loose from the front of her shirt and pants before smirking herself. She gathered most of the snow that had landed on her and packed it together, glaring at Orphen all the while. He was laughing so hard now that he had his hands wrapped around his stomach and his head was back, when she acted without thinking. She stomped up to him, grabbed the waistband of his pants and shoved the snow down the front of his pants, gleefully listening as his laughs turned to shouts of surprise and fury.

Orphen howled in alarm and rage, "You little bitch! You're gonna pay for that!" He reached for her not immediately sure of what his intentions were. His hands were up near her neck, but he couldn't take his eyes off her lips. Part of him wanted to show her just what fire she was playing with, the other wanted to shut her up before she gloated for getting him. He'd advanced on her to the point that he felt her hands, in a defensive posture, resting on his chest. Feeling her hands there, made him almost glad of the ice because he was sure heating up now. It was one of the reasons he avoided touching her.

Fortunately, the chill in his pants won out when he shifted his gaze up to her eyes, which were wide and fearful. He stopped, lowered his hands and examined her shocked face. He closed his eyes aware before he did so that her lips were moving as he shut her out, knowing instinctively what she was saying. She'd obviously realized she'd gone too far and was apologizing. But at this point, he wasn't sure who needed to apologize. Either way, he knew he needed to get away from her, quickly. Resisting the urge to caress or hold her hands where they were, he simply stepped back and away from her.

"Meet me in town. 'Towers in heaven that dance around me.'" Orphen growled and teleported away.

Cleo stood speechless, one minute he was about to strangle her and the next he was gone. She looked over at Majic, hoping he'd be able to explain what just happened. Since what she saw in Orphen's eyes wasn't entirely anger, but anger mixed with something else, something she didn't recognize.

"Let's just get going to town." Majic said, "I'm sure he'll have the room ready by the time we get there." Majic shook his head, she really had no clue. He wasn't worried, rooming with Orphen he'd seen this often enough, she'd fire up his temper and he'd go work off his… problem. Today, Majic thought Orphen might make a move to alter their relationship after her retaliation, but no, the status quo returned.

"O-Okkkkay." Cleo stuttered and started following Majic. Now that the adrenaline from the last few moments was waning, she realized she was cold and feeling colder. She did her best to shake lose any remaining snow, but much of it had already melted. After pulling the fabric away from her skin, she silently hoped the town was close since the prospect of the inn and a warm bath, far outweighed the trepidation about her welcome when they got there.

They walked in silence for awhile before Cleo stopped again. After a few moments, Majic stopped and looked back once he realized she wasn't following behind. "We need to keep moving Cleo, please. It's cold and the inn will be warm. Plus I'll get you some hot chocolate to drink in the bath once we get there."

"I-I'm t-t-too c-c-cold. I-I n-n-need t-t-t-to g-g-get w-w-w-warm now!" She stammered out shivering as she sat down on a rock. "M-m-my s-s-spare c-c-c-clothes?"

"Cleo, you'll stay warmer if you…" Majic trailed off when he turned back to look at her. He realized after she'd gotten hit with the snow, he hadn't taken a good look at her but he did so now. The snow she'd been hit with had resulted in the entire front of her clothes to be wet, trapping the cold by the core of her body. Her teeth were chattering and her skin as a rather scary shade of white, verging on blue. There was no stopping it now, she wouldn't be able to go on to the town tonight; she needed to get dry by a fire and fast. 'Damn it, I should have noticed something sooner. Master's gonna be pissed. Then again…he didn't exactly… no, I can't think about that now…focus.'

He quickly surveyed their surroundings and saw a tall snow covered cliff, figuring that would have the best chance of having a cave near it. Resisting the urge to berate her for not speaking up, Majic simply focused on what needed to be done and started by getting her back on her feet. "Cleo you've got to keep moving. I'm gonna find us some shelter. Keep moving but stay in this area."

Knowing she needed him to hurry, he hustled off the path to search the base of the cliff. After a bit of looking, he silently blessed their luck, although there was no cave, there was an abandoned mine. Whether it was abandoned because of the season or that it was played out, didn't matter much to Majic, it was dry and, near as he could tell, well ventilated. That additional boon would allow for a larger fire further away from the entrance and the winds. His hurried walk turned into a run, when he saw her curled up on the ground shivering. He scooped her up, bringing her up under his cloak and rushed to the mine, vaguely noticing that the wind had picked up while Leki bounded ahead of them. Leki entered the mine ahead of Majic. Since he didn't seem alarmed, Majic took that to mean that there weren't any nasty critters in the mine waiting to pounce on them.

Once in the mine, he ripped through their pack, yanking her spare clothes out. After handing them to her, he started digging around the mine, finding some wood and familiar rocks. He chuckled quietly to himself, 'Coal. Of course, we're almost to Sun Lake. Thank goodness for small favors.' He cast to start the fire even though it seemed to take more energy then normal. 'I wonder why…' he started thinking when Cleo handed him her wet clothes indicating she had finished changing.

"The fire's started get close to it." He told her as he watched her wrap up in a blanket and sit next to the fire while he tried to decide what to do with her wet clothes; finally he decided to shove them in the pack. Once finished, he started to remind her they needed to get moving, but hesitated, she was still very pale and from her movements in the blanket, still shivering.

He stepped up to the entrance to get a better look at the weather and see how long he could allow her to warm up. First, he noticed that Leki was now sitting by the entrance looking like he was waiting for permission to go play, which Majic granted. Next he saw that the wind was picking up and there was a lot of snow blowing around, whether new or blown snow he didn't know. Either way, he knew they shouldn't stay any longer. But did he really want to take her back out in that. Mentally he went over the list of supplies, and they did have enough to last for a day or two, if they were careful. So staying was an option, however even with the fire, it was still cold and likely wouldn't get much warmer. And with her getting wet, she needed to get fully warm as quickly as possible, which wouldn't happen here. Reluctantly, he stepped back into the mine and haphazardly started dumping everything back into the pack. "Cleo we really need to get moving to the town, it looks like it's going to storm."

"Good instincts, Majic. What are you two doing here?" Orphen's voice cut in and continued before Majic or Cleo could answer. "The room at the inn is all set up. And you remembered wrong Majic, the town's only about an hour down the road now. Get moving."

"But Master, Cleo's…"

Cutting Majic off, Orphen stated, "I'll take care of her."

"But…"

"Majic!" Orphen barked, "There's a blizzard coming. Get moving."

"But send…"

"I don't repeat myself and you're wasting time. Finish setting up the rooms."

"Yes, Master." Majic replied, dropping his pack and scurrying out of the mine. Just outside the entrance Majic stopped, the weather was really looking bad…the storm was almost upon them. He turned to go back in and tell Orphen about the weather when he heard a step behind him.

"Correct." Orphen said answering Majic's unspoken question. "The fast way, focus now. I'll guide you."

Majic closed his eyes and focused his energy to cast the spell he'd only just learned. Momentarily, he felt his Master adding power and giving Majic the destination before adding a final push he needed for the spell.

"Away." They said in unison.

Orphen watched as the purple light faded from Majic's teleport, pleased that it worked, but frustrated. He'd had to do a lot more pushing to get Majic out ahead of the storm than he expected. He probably shouldn't have sent Majic on since it was so risky. Additionally, that left him with a problem. With the oncoming storm he didn't have enough power to teleport both him and Cleo into town. He could probably teleport himself but leaving Cleo wasn't an option. Teleporting someone else took more power and control, and he already felt his power diminishing under the storm effect so sending her to town wasn't possible either. Not to mention the fact that once the storm truly started, he wouldn't be able to cast at all. In fact, he shouldn't cast anything now; with his power fading any spells would be unpredictable and potentially dangerous.

Standing there, second guessing himself, would get them nowhere, better to focus on finishing what Majic started inside the mine. Before leaving the entrance, he saw Leki out in the snow and whistled, signaling for the pup to come inside before turning and walking back into the mine to see Cleo huddled in the blankets close to the fire, still shivering. He had to suppress the urge to grab her and hold her close partly out of duty to keep her safe and warm, but mostly because it was just getting harder and harder to keep his distance. This time though, guilt and duty were winning out, since he caused it. Since she'd changed, he suspected that what Majic was trying to tell him was that she'd gotten soaked. Running his had through his hair, he grimaced, he should have sent her back, but with the weather and her not being a sorceress; it was just too risky. That and he needed to talk to her, alone, but he realized he should have ported both of them back and trusted Majic to make his way to Sun Lake on his own.

'Damn it. She nailed me in the face with a snowball and even dumped snow down my pants, but she had the sense to stay away from the core of my body. I didn't.' He paused, looking back out towards the entrance where the blizzard continued to build. 'I should have known better. I thought I'd learned that lesson.' Resolving to apologize, before he told her they were stuck there for the night, without Majic. He stepped up to the fire and said, "You shouldn't have started throwing the snowballs, but…"

"Shut up! I can't believe you!" She shouted, standing shrugging off the blanket, immediately shivering at the absence of warmth. "Yeah, I admit, I threw the first snowball but y-you… No, you are n-not going to blame this one me!" She stomped towards the entrance, "Fine, I'm changed so l-let's g-go! W-where's Majic."

"In town but that isn't…" Orphen broke off, alarmed as he noticed her visibly shaking with cold, his own anger rising at her stubbornness especially considering she did not even allow him to finish before she snapped at him. "We're not going anywhere!"

"Oh no!" Cleo shouted whirling on Orphen. "Y-you're not going to blame me for having camp out with a storm coming when there's an inn an hour away." Wrapping her arms around her body to save some warmth, she turned back and moved to the entrance where she realized she could barely see Leki, who was happily snapping at the snowflakes in the air not far from the mine entrance. Snowflakes that were blowing around much more then just normal snowfall, even Cleo could see that. She paused before stepping out of the shelter of the mine, only to be yanked back by her arm.

"That's a blizzard building out there nitwit!" Orphen started dragging her back to the fire. "We're not going anywhere tonight. Now get back by that fire."

"Wait… blizzard?" Cleo paused, twisting out of Orphen's hold before hurrying back to the entrance and shouting, "Leki!"

Outside, Leki was getting very frustrated at not being able to catch any of the snowflakes. Growling in frustration, he started powering up his attack when he heard his mistress's call. He looked around and realized he couldn't see or smell her, worried now that she might be stuck in the snow someplace, he howled.

Cleo tried to run out of the cave to get Leki when he howled, but Orphen grabbed her by the waist pulling her back in.

"Call him…" Orphen broke off when they both heard grumbling from above. "Shit…" Orphen cried, running deeper into the mine dragging Cleo along.

"What are you…" She shrieked in protest, until she saw the snow coming at them. Just as it was catching up to them, Orphen flung Cleo in front of him as he shoved her into a small alcove against the wall, shielding her as best he could when the snow and debris hit.

* * *

This is the end of part one…so don't kill me, especially if you want me to post part two. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: The usual, I don't own any of the characters in SSO.

Author's note: This is set after Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Revenge. Although the central characters are strictly based off the Anime, references will be made to a character from the manga and novels. I know basics about the character but not many details so the ones I came up with may not match canon. Simply consider the events around that character as alternate universe.

Also, this originally started out as a gift fic for Alchephiliac (Shardy) although it ended up extremely late as the story got longer then the oneshot it was originally intended to be. I'm rating it M because there are some…um…light sexual situations and implications but nothing explicit.

* * *

Majic moved away from the window of the room Orphen had arranged. The snow was really coming down and it had been hours since he'd arrived. At least he thought so; he had woken up on the floor after the teleport, completely drained. He didn't understand why, but he couldn't seem to feel his magic. He paced around the room again checking on the pot of tea and coffee he had by the fire. The bathroom had a large tub in it and he checked for the fifth time in as many minutes that hot water was ready. He had to admit that was one thing he agreed with Cleo about in Sun Lake, all the modern conveniences, including hot running water. Still that didn't distract him enough from the problem at hand. He was there waiting for them, but they didn't follow like he expected. 'Where are they?'

He walked back to the window and looked out, even knowing that when they arrived, it would probably be via teleport, just like he had. Still, he noticed a lone hooded, cloak and snow-covered figure arriving at the inn. He found himself examining the figure hoping they could possibly be carrying someone. 'No, too thin.' He mused.

"Where are they?" He questioned aloud, giving voice to his growing worry. Even so he still found himself looking out the window hoping that Cleo would appear behind the cloaked figure.

"I shouldn't have left. I shouldn't have left them alone, there's no telling what's happening to them. No… No, they'll be fine. Master would never really harm Cleo." Majic paused, putting his hand on the window wondering who he was really trying to convince with that last line, feeling a slight chill. "I know… I know he cares for her. He's just not sure how to express it… I think."

Majic leaned against the glass, and shivered slightly. "Cold, that's how he is to her. Most of the time anyway… and that hurts her so much 'cause she loves him." Majic punched the frame of the window. "Damn it…where are they?!?"

"That's a good question Majic." Hartia said, shaking the last vestiges of the snow off his cloak as he removed it. "Where the hell is he?"

Majic jumped when he heard the voice behind him. He whirled around to see Hartia standing in the entrance to the room. "Eeeep!"

"Very articulate…but that doesn't answer my question."

"Um… I'm not precisely certain." Majic answered before continuing to babble, "but the last time I saw them they were in a mine… that I, um… think was about an hour or so out of town. And I left and… and they stayed and… I-I'm expecting them any time now. Or rather… um… well, a long time ago. And I…"

"Stop rambling." Hartia interrupted. "Start from the beginning."

"Beginning of what?" Majic hedged.

"Start at the beginning." Hartia ordered.

"The beginning, um… okay." Majic answered, widening his eyes and putting on his mask of innocence, partly to play with Master Hartia but partly to distract himself from his own worries, "First of all Master came to Totokonta to stay at the inn only he wasn't my master…"

"Majic, not that literal." Hartia chuckled, holding his cloak looking for a good place to hang it up. "I meant at the beginning of what separated you."

"Oh… today. After we'd been walking almost all day, Master pissed off Cleo and well, that was a mistake since she's really good at making snowballs."

"What does that have to do with the three of you getting separated?"

"Well, after she nailed Master in the face with a snowball, he dumped an entire tree branch full of snow on her."

"He did what?" In surprise, Hartia's cloak slipped through his fingers to the floor. 'He wouldn't, not when he blames himself…'

"Um…yeah…but she dumped snow down his pants because of it."

"She didn't?!?" Hartia said unable to stop himself from laughing, as the laughter banished the bad memories.

"Yeah…and he was so mad. Then he left. Ported away."

"He left you two alone? With that blowing in!" Hartia exlaimed, gesturing towards the window. "Then how did you get here?"

"Well… Cleo and I took shelter in a mine…um after we walked for a while. We stopped 'cause she got cold…um… really cold and wet. And then Master came back…"

"At least he didn't stay away long. But still, why are you here if you were all in the mine?"

"Well… he told me to come here. But when I saw the storm, I didn't want to leave…but he said he'd take care of Cleo and I 'ported here. Only he had to help…a lot. And I passed out when I got here."

"Of course you did! Damn him! He knows better."

"Master Hartia, um… you aren't surprised that I… why did I pass out?"

"You mean he didn't explain. Of course not, he doesn't. Unless forced. How can he call himself… well nevermind. That's an argument for later. That," Hartia said pointing outside, "is an equalizer. It strips sorcerers of their magic."

"It what? Could that be why? But how?"

"Majic, research mode later. The short story is that blizzards take away your magic or haven't you noticed that you can't even call light."

"I-I'd noticed…but is that… why they…"

"Probably. That or they killed each other."

"Gee… thanks Master Hartia. That's comforting."

"Would you prefer that I said that they could be making out like bunnies?"

"Ewww… That's worse, in a way."

"Well…I doubt that's happening, but you said it yourself Majic. He cares for her and won't let anything happen to her. Of course you forgot to add that he won't let anyone else near her, possessive bastard."

"Um…you heard." Majic gulped, "Um… how much?"

"Enough, to get you into a lot of trouble." Hartia teased, watching Majic blanch and start to stammer. "Relax, I already figured out about him. Although it's nice to know I was right about her."

"Um… okay, so why are you here Master Hartia?"

"Krylancelo sent a message to me asking me to meet him here. And if I'd known what the weather was going to be like this I wouldn't have come. I owe him for that. So should I punch him or kiss Cleo in front of him? Which do you think would piss him off more?"

"Um… no comment, but I'd be more worried about what Cleo would do than him."

"Point." Hartia replied, sitting down in one of the two chairs by the fireplace. "Now are you going to offer me some of the coffee or am I going to expire from the cold."

Majic hurriedly went to the fire, got a cup and fixed Hartia some coffee. As Majic handed the cup to him, Hartia put his free hand on Majic shoulder, stopping him before he went to fuss at the window again.

"I'm glad I came in one respect, I stopped you from doing something stupid. They will be fine and without our sorcery all we can do is wait until the weather breaks. We're lucky your Master got the room. Cots and blankets are being handed out downstairs. We can't do anything till morning, so get some rest."

With one last glance out the window, Majic reluctantly nodded and sat in the chair trying to relax.

* * *

Once the sounds in the mine died down, Cleo cautiously opened her eyes trying to see what happened, however all she saw was darkness. She was pinned against the wall by something… something warm. Her legs however were cold so cold she felt like she was loosing feeling in them. Realizing she had to get them warm quickly or she'd be in trouble, Cleo started to squirm against the obstacle, a cloth covered breathing obstacle. "Orphen?" she whispered.

"Yeah. Stay quiet, the snow's still shifting."

Cleo tried to stay still, but her legs were really becoming a problem, they felt like there were tiny freezing knives pricking her skin. She knew that was bad and kept trying to move her legs, but for every movement she made, Orphen pressed her further in to the wall trying to get her to stay still. Unable to keep still or quiet any longer, she softly moaned. "I'm c-cold and I need to move."

"It's waist deep Cleo. That's easier said then done." Orphen groaned back, wishing she'd stay still.

"We can't stay here." Cleo cried, once again wiggling and attempting to move her legs.

"And what do you suggest, Miss Smarty Pants? It's waist damn deep and every time you move, the snow shifts more. Now stop it!" In a thought he added, 'It's also playing havoc with my resolve. For once the cold is a welcome distraction. Wait cold…what was she… Shit!'

"Cleo, tell me you're in jeans."

Cleo gulped before answering, "If I could, I would."

"Cleo!"

"Look…my last pair of jeans was wet from the snow. And in case you've forgotten, my spare pair was shredded in the last battle and you wouldn't fix them."

"Damn it!" Orphen growled.

"And you wouldn't let Majic try to fix them."

"Cleo!"

"And you wouldn't let me have the money to buy…"

"Enough!" Orphen shouted, pushing back away from her only to fall back into her when he couldn't get enough leverage to break out of the snow.

"Ooof!" She exhaled when he slammed her against the wall again. "You do that again Orphen, so help me I'm gonna hit you so hard, it'll be spring before you wake up!"

"What the hell do you expect, I'm just as stuck in the snow are you are and I don't bend that way."

"Could've fooled me!" She retorted, starting to systematically twist her waist and legs trying to get loose.

Orphen suppressed a groan, 'The chit is going to be the death of me,' as part of his psyche was thinking just how he could bend her, making him increasingly aware of the fact that he needed to move away from her before she realized just what she was rubbing up against. He reached up to the support beam she was partially hidden behind and grasped it. Once he had a grip on it, he pulled himself up and out of the snow a bit. He'd gotten out to about mid-thigh when Cleo took that moment to push forward into his stomach causing him to fall into the snow filling the mine. 'Well, that's one way to get out.' He moved to sit up and look for the end of the snow, when he felt a weight on top of him as Cleo crawled over him. "Damn it! Get off!"

"I'm working on it so quit your griping!"

"Let me…" He broke off when she slipped fell on top of him. He groaned, very conscious of every curve of her body that suddenly became plastered against his.

"Sorry…sorry, I s-slipped… my legs…" she apologized even as she slipped again after she'd almost gotten off of him causing one of her knees to connect with Orphen's groin.

"Oooof!" Orphen grunted aloud, pulling her to him and rolling her underneath him. Once on top, he pushed himself up and stood. Once solidly standing on the ground, he pulled her up, thinking, 'And I wanted to be alone with her, why?'

Once off the snow, which only went on for a few more feet from where they'd been stuck, he was able to see the extent the snow intruded on the mine. The fire was dying but giving off enough light that he could see that the entrance was totally closed and the snow almost reached the fire. He could see the blankets she'd thrown off, dusted by snow just at the end of the snow line. He stood and quickly grabbed the blanket getting it away from the snow in the hopes that it wouldn't be too wet. Checking it, he found it was damp but not soaked. Keeping himself between the fire and the blanket, he started to shake it out, but stopped.

"Get by the fire you fool."

For once without a word of complaint, Cleo moved by the fire and started looking around for Majic's pack while Orphen shook out the blanket. Once done, he turned and with a quick "Here," he threw it at her.

She barely had time to drop the pack and catch the blanket before it fell in the fire. When she dropped the partially open pack the action dumped some of the contents into the snow. Draping the blanket over her shoulders, Cleo started grabbing at the items, including the clothes she'd been wearing earlier and one of Majic's spare shirts. Once determining that they were wet, she left them out of the pack realizing they'd only make anything dry in the pack wet. She glared at Orphen, "Watch i-it!"

"No arguments. Wrap up in the blanket while I get the fire going more." Orphen moved to add wood to the fire, noticing that the fire was close enough to the snow that if he stoked it too much, the snow would melt too much and douse the fire. 'Better to start a second one first. Then build a bit of a dam before building up the first anymore.'

He gathered a few pieces of coal and looked around for wood. He knew Majic found some but didn't know where. He noticed an ore cart a little ways further into the mine, and found that there was some wood in the cart, likely intended to be used to support the walls and about to be used for firewood. He quickly got the coal and wood together in a pyre before he realized he had another problem. How to start the fire. "Where's the damn flint?"

"Y-you and Majic don't use flint. I don't start the campfires. And when we were in a hurry a while back, you said not to carry it; that it was unnecessary." Cleo argued back, shivering as she added a bit more coal to the fire she was huddled next too.

"Then we've got a big problem. I can't use magic, even something as small as calling a spark to start a fire."

"What are you talking about? You're a sorcerer that's what you do. Did you hit your head back there?"

"No, it's the damn storm. Intense blizzards interfere with sorcery." Orphen threw a piece of coal on to the other pile. "Till the storm dies down, we're good and stuck."

"Then why are you building another fire, when this one I still going?"

"Additional warmth and melting risk."

"Melting? Oh crap I didn't think of that." Cleo paused, looking around and noticing for the first time just how close the edge of the snow was to the fire. "Should we move further back?" She asked even as she was gathering the packs and items to re-load the packs.

"No, we're fine here. Provided there isn't another avalanche."

"Okay." Cleo answered with some doubt in her voice. "So how are you going to start the other fire?"

"Give me a minute to think damn it!"

"Why don't you take some wood from the current fire to start the other?"

"That was what I was thinking of doing." Orphen grumbled, covering his embarrassment at not thinking of the obvious answer sooner. "Just stay under that blanket as you're cold and wet enough as it is." Orphen continued thinking aloud, "I'm not losing anyone else important to the cold."

"Losing? To Cold? What do you mean Orphen?"

Orphen looked at her realizing what he'd said aloud. "Forget it!"

"N-No! You must have meant something by that. Explain." Cleo demanded before adding in a softer tone. "Please."

"No!" Orphen barked, standing to look at the original fire and locating a stick that was on fire but long enough for him to hold and move to where he had the other pyre set up. He got that fire started. He sat and watched as the fire caught and expanded, very aware of the silence that had fallen between them. Only it wasn't complete silence, he was hearing some faint clicking. Looking around for the source, he realized it was Cleo. She was shivering. 'Damn it!' he cursed, standing and walking over to her he scooped her up and put her between the fires.

He also made note of just how wet the blanket was and that it wasn't helping. If anything it was making matters worse. He ripped it off her. "Why the hell did you keep that damn thing on. It's wet and that's the last thing you need!"

"Y-you're the one who told me to put it on and then s-stopped talking!"

"Is there anything dry in the pack?" Orphen groused, ignoring her smarting off.

"I hadn't finished checking when I th-thought we were going to need to move. I think some of the stuff at the bottom is dry. Um…my spare is still wet."

Internally, Orphen cursed, they were traveling light since they were planning on staying in Sun Lake for a few weeks during the worst of the winter weather. He'd only allowed them one spare set of clothes for the last stretch of travel. Everything else had been shipped ahead while they hit a couple out of the way towns with a few specialty items Cleo wanted to check out before reaching Sun Lake. That's why we're in this fix, I shouldn't have indulged her that way. 'Oh who am I kidding, I'm a sucker for her pout. Thank goodness she hasn't figured that out yet. Majic still caves first and then I can do the reluctant to go along routine.'

"U-um…Orphen. Y-your spare set is dry." Cleo interrupted his thoughts speaking with pauses while she tried to keep the chatter out of her voice. "Here." She continued pushing his clothes into his arms, "Your clothes are wet too."

He absently clasped the clothes she'd shoved in his hands. "Thanks." He mumbled, realizing that while he'd been standing there woolgathering, she'd dug back into the pack and found something dry for him to wear. "What other clothes are dry?"

Slowly replying, "Just these, the pack was open when the snow hit. That and, um… well, Majic put my w-other clothes in with everything and they got most of the others damp… err, wet."

He looked at her, still trying to keep the shivers down and realized she needed dry clothes more then he did. His vest had kept his shirt dry. He sorted through the clothes she'd thrust at him and pulled his shirt out and threw it at her. "Change into that."

"W-what about y-you!?!"

"My shirt's dry and I'm changing everything else. So you use the spare shirt!" Orphen growled, sparing a quick glance back to the snow filled entrance to the mine. "No arguments! We can't afford to be cold, wet and stuck." He cursed himself, even as he asked, 'Whatever happened to apologizing before I told her we were stuck. Oh yeah, she pissed me off first. Typical. She drives me to distraction.' Turning his back towards her, he quickly shed his wet pants to put his other ones on. Faintly he heard some rustling indicating she was changing and he had to resist the urge to look back at her even though the mere thought of her changing behind him had the normal reaction.

'Distraction, always a distraction. This shouldn't be difficult, think about the cold not her. Focus on what you have to do to keep us alive. Majic will be here in the morning as long as he stays put during the storm. But what if he doesn't? No, he's smart. He'll worry but he won't leave in favor of keeping everything ready for us to get warm.' That relaxed Orphen enough to also remember something, 'I nearly forgot, Hartia was meeting us. He'll keep watch on Majic. That's one worry off my shoulders. Now back to the current task, keeping warm. And getting the blankets and our spare clothes dry.'

"Are you finished Cleo?"

"Um…well, yes but …"

"Good." He said turning around, knowing full well what her problem was. She was only in his shirt and, knowing her, underwear. Although that image was extremely appealing, he needed to get the blankets and clothes hanging up so they could dry. And for that he needed some clothesline. "Give me the pack."

"It's on the f-floor." She replied, tucking her legs up against her and pulling bottom edge of the shirt over them to cover as much as possible.

Orphen stepped closer to the fire, Cleo and the backpack. He picked up the pack and started digging through it. Finding what he was looking for he stood, taking a quick opportunity to glance down at Cleo, who by pulling the bottom down had caused the neckline to open up further, giving him a both welcome and unwelcome glimpse down his shirt, enough to notice what she wasn't wearing. With a groan, he mentally chastised himself for looking knowing it wouldn't help his situation as he tied up the twine to allow him to hang the blankets and clothes in a box around the fires and where they'd be waiting out the storm. Additionally, he took the socks and laid them right next to the fires to get them dry and warm the fastest.

In a silence only interrupted by suppressed teeth chattering, Orphen hurried to complete their makeshift shelter. He stepped out of the shelter and collected some more wood, coal and rocks. Thinking about it he knew he wanted to have more fuel for the fires and to protect both them, and the first fire, from any additional snow based wetness. The wood and coal were both in the mine cart…so he moved the cart within their circle of blankets. Once complete he sat down near Cleo.

Orphen sat poking the fire for a few minutes lost in his own thoughts of old friends when a quiet voice interrupted him.

Cleo watched Orphen bustle about in an attempt to make the mine habitable, while she could feel the change in the temperature from him putting up the blankets around, part of her knew it wasn't enough. It was still bitterly cold and she couldn't get warm, even sitting right next to the fire. When Orphen sat down next to her, she fought the urge to lean against him to share or steal warmth. However, she knew that gesture wouldn't be welcomed, so she miserably sat and stared at the fire, trying to keep warm. Even though she was now dry, she couldn't shake the cold and as time went by, she found herself not noticing the cold as much. She found the fire hypnotic and started to doze off. A loud crack in the fire, startled her awake and she realized she could fall right back to sleep and with the cold, that could be bad. She needed to stay awake and Orphen was her only option for help. She gulped slightly building up her nerve before speaking.

"Orphen, please talk to me. I'm cold and sleepy and I-I know that's not good." Cleo pleaded.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he growled at himself internally. He should have done this sooner, he turned, put his arms around her and pulled her close, "Cold, all right. We'll share body heat."

"No." She said struggling to get away, only to herself firmly held against him.

"Keep struggling, that'll just increase your body heat."

"I'm too c-cold! Don't waste what heat you have! You were stuck in the snow t-too."

"Stop it." Orphen hissed. "If you'd have let me finish earlier, I was going to apologize for you being so chilled when I covered you with snow. I knew better and I shouldn't have done it. It's not the… nevermind." He broke off. "Straighten up, we're going to re-arrange things a bit."

"But…"

"Just do it." He interrupted as she kneeled up. He sighed noticing the female thermometer through his shirt, although appreciating the view; he had to keep his focus on keeping them warm. He moved the mine cart behind where they had been sitting, thinking it he could lean against it and it would be additional draft blocking except for by the wheels, but the pack should fix that. While up, he checked the socks by the fire, which had only been a little damp and were now dry and warm. Grabbing the pack, socks and his jacket, he sat down against the cart and directed her to sit back down in between his legs. Once there he bent his legs under hers and laid the jacket over her bare legs. He placed the pack between his back and the cart. Once complete, he pulled her against him. He slipped the socks on her feet, which were very cold to the touch. Once the socks were on, he started messaging her feet.

"Um… I still need to talk…can…would you explain. What did you mean earlier about losing someone to the c-cold?" When Orphen didn't answer immediately, Cleo pressed on a bit, "Was…were you referring to something about… Azalie?"

"No." Orphen replied moving the message from her feet up to her calves.

"Then w-who?"

"No. It's none of your business." Orphen resisted. He didn't want to tell her about Komikron.

"Oh… um, sorry I didn't mean to butt in." Cleo hedged, relaxing into his ministrations. His rubbing her legs was really helping her feet and legs feel warm for the first time in hours. "I-I um… Thanks but, um… why did you… come back? And, you… you could have left? Why did you stay?"

Orphen stopped what he was doing, feeling his anger rise at her assuming he didn't care, even as an internal voice reminded him that he didn't give her any reason to assume otherwise. For Majic and Cleo the trip to Sun Lake was for a safe relaxing place to wait out the worst of the winter with their modern conveniences. For him, this trip to Sun Lake was to change things. That was part of the reason he'd asked Hartia to meet them, to distract Majic with some much needed advanced concentration studies. 'Still I can't really explain that to her here and now. I'd actually planned things out. The inn, a fire, some wine, me, Cleo and with a bit of luck a serious change in our… No. No, I can't think of that now… with her sitting her between… oh bad!'

He had barely started to move to shift her out of his lap when she shivered. Assuming it was because he'd stopped rubbing her legs, he resumed, thinking, 'I have to control myself. She needs me now. I won't fail her like I did Komikron'

After the latest bit of silence, Cleo concluded she wasn't going to get an answer to her question and shuddered slightly. It almost seemed that her shudder reminded him to start rubbing again so she decided to speak up, "Thank you, I've got feeling back in my legs again. And I'm warmer now. You… you don't have to say anything or stay like this. I-I'll be fine, now." She started to move away from him again, only to once again find herself clasped to his chest.

* * *

And I'm going to stop it there… so the chapters are fairly evenly divided. There's more to come, a full chapter plus a bit of an epilogue. Hope you all enjoyed it!

And a big thank you to everyone who read and reviewed, I do try to respond individually if you're signed in or include your E-mail address. That's one nice thing about a smaller fandom like SSO, individual attention can be given and I like that. Anyway special thanks go out to those who took the time to review: amylovestakuya, Carrie, Chairleg01, CLEAO girl, FlowerGirl, Irondevil, NextStation, The Black Crow, and Wildefire's Flame.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: The usual, I don't own any of the characters in SSO.

Author's note: This is set after Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Revenge. Although the central characters are strictly based off the Anime, references will be made to a character from the manga and novels. I know basics about the character but not many details so the ones I came up with may not match canon. Simply consider the events around that character as alternate universe.

I rated this fic M because there are some…um…light sexual situations and implications but nothing explicit. Let me reiterate and I hope I don't disappoint anyone too much, there is nothing explicit, only implied um…activities.

_

* * *

__After the latest bit of silence, Cleo concluded she wasn't going to get an answer to her question and shuddered slightly. It almost seemed that her shudder reminded him to start rubbing again so she decided to speak up, "Thank you, I've got feeling back in my legs again. And I'm warmer now. You… you don't have to say anything or stay like this. I-I'll be fine, now." She started to move away from him again, only to once again find herself clasped to his chest._

"Stay put. We're sharing heat here, remember."

"But, if you don't w-want to be…"

"Stop it. Give me a minute to think of how to answer your first question."

"Huh…um okay." Cleo whispered, frantically trying to remember which question he was referring to.

"Winter and cold is not a big deal for me, even thought that is when Azalie first used the sword. You also know that is when we restored her. You've been to the Tower in winter, you know it's cold everywhere. Growing up there cold was a fact of life. However, storms, specifically blizzards are another matter. It takes away our sorcery."

Orphen paused, and leaned into her. To her surprise, he nuzzled into her neck a bit and she thought he might have kissed her, but figured she imagined it, even so she arched her neck to allow for easier access. Orphen lifted his head abruptly, like he was surprised by what he was doing. He shifted slightly and his hands moved to her upper arms and he started rubbing there.

"Don't… stop." She whispered, regretting it immediately when he tensed. "I-I, never mind. Would… would you continue, about the storms I mean?"

Those two words went straight to Orphen's groin…he'd started kissing her neck enjoying the feel of her and being able to freely touch her. And she welcomed the attention, she even moved to allow him easier access to continue, and he wanted to, so much. But a slight breeze fluttered past his neck reminding him of the cold and the simple fact that this wasn't the place to start that. 'What the hell's wrong with me, I'm not my brother. I don't think of sex every waking moment. But sex… no, making love with Cleo… That's never far from my thoughts. I have to focus, I have to keep her safe. This isn't the time or the place.'

He switched to rubbing her arms, to improve her circulation there. But then she said that, and he wanted to oblige her so badly he could taste it. Every muscle in his body stood at attention, especially below the belt. Almost immediately after that, he felt her sag and ask for him to continue the story. He realized they were reading each other at cross-purposes and although he shouldn't have done what he did, he wasn't going to regret it either. They would get there, soon. But a mine in the middle of a blizzard with her chilled to the bone wasn't the time or place.

Deciding his best course of action was to just continue talking, he continued the story, "Hartia, Komikron and I learned about the magical void of blizzards the hard way."

"Komikron? Who's he? You've never…"

"Let me tell this all the way without interruptions," Orphen interrupted gruffly. "Or I won't be able to get it out."

Cleo shifted slightly to look up at him and nodded, leaning her head back against his chest, attempting to offer what support she could in the position they were in.

He smiled into her hair, marveling again how his brat could always get him to feel better about even the worst of situations. "We were outside the Tower, specifically in Komikron's lab. He liked to experiment with all sorts of things, especially magic and electricity and combining them. It's how I first found out about Sun Lake, even before our first visit because my Master had been there before, gathering some research on electricity for Komikron. I didn't know my Master would become the hero of the whole damn town." Orphen paused realizing he was getting off track.

"Anyway, Komikron had asked Hartia and I to assist him with an experiment. This one had us powering part of a machine with our sorcery and he was using electricity for another part."

"Powering?" Cleo asked confused.

Orphen sighed but ignored her interruption even as he closed his eyes, remembering when it all went to hell, the light, sound, smells and shouts and above all, the storm. "The-the…" Orphen stammered slightly.

Realizing how difficult this apparently was for him, Cleo knew looking at him wouldn't help this time so she disentangled one of her hands from where she had it wrapped around her knees under his jacket. His hands that had been rubbing her arms had stopped, so she put her free hand on top of his and gave him a slight squeeze. His hands started moving again, quickly tucking her arm back under his jacket before he continued again, as if nothing happened.

"The storm started blowing in while we were concentrating and interrupted our magic flow which caused an imbalance that quickly went out of control. Everything exploded, leaving Komikron pinned and all of us with no shelter since the explosion blew the roof off the lab. After a few attempts to move the debris, Hartia suggested one of us teleporting for help, that's when we realized neither of us alone had the strength. He and I both assumed it was because we'd been using our magic when the machine went crazy, we were so wrong."

"Komikron knew the magic loss was due to the storm but didn't say anything. He just had us combine our powers so one of us could 'port out to get help. After a bit of a fight, which I won, Hartia ported back to the Tower, with my assistance, just like I gave Majic earlier, only I wasn't as powerful or experienced then."

"Are you gonna be okay now?"

"As I said, I'm more experienced now…and know my limits. Now are you going to let me finish this?" He asked as he shifted his rubbing from her upper arms to her shoulders and neck.

Cleo leaned her head forward slightly, giving Orphen better access to her neck and to rest her chin on her crossed arms. Yawning slightly, Cleo whispered, "Sorry…just." She stopped as she shivered and yawned again, "Thanks, I'm feeling warmer and getting kind of sleepy. I-I still want to hear the rest."

Orphen froze at her words, thinking they sounded very familiar. He tensed, realizing that Komikron had said those same words just before they both passed out. 'Not this time! Not again! I won't... No can't loose you.' Orphen shook her. "No sleeping! Cleo stay awake you hear me, weren't you the one who said that sleeping now was not good." He paused momentarily, fumbling for an idea to capture her attention, thinking, 'Hmm…that's it. Although she did said something about… No…go with the obvious, her curiosity.'

He challenged her with, "Besides, if you fall asleep I will not finish the story. Don't you want to know who Kromikron was?"

"O-of course. But only… only if it's not too hard on you."

'You just had to say that that way didn't you Cleo.' He thought, examining the fire noticing it was in need of new fuel. When she shivered again, he decided he'd better check the blankets to see if they were dry. They were going to need them, soon in fact, since he was beginning to feel the cold, too. "Then I'll finish the story, but I need to check on a few things. Don't you have some summer stories you can tell to warm us up?"

"Warm…um," She shivered even more when Orphen shifted, and stood up. "C-can't think of any warm ones. Winter was always more fun then summer, summer was spent at school but winters were at home. Besides, I-I am the snowball c-champ in Totokonta. Or-or didn't you notice Majic getting ready to duck and cover when he saw I was holding a snowball."

Checking on the two blankets furthest from the entrance, Orphen was pleased to note that at least one was almost dry. The other was still to damp to be useful and the third, dry or not, was needed as a slight shield from the cold of the snow blocking the entrance. "Snowball champ, eh? I guess I can believe that with your aim. You nailed me in the face."

"I said I didn't mean too!"

"So, in a snowball fight a face shot is the hardest." He retorted as he was checking her clothes, which unfortunately were still quite damp. His gut clenched with guilt that she was so cold because of him.

"I-I…we… we learned," Cleo's voice dropped to a barely audible whisper, "the hard way, that…" She paused again, clearing her throat before continuing, "That there are certain areas that you don't hit with snowballs…" She paused, remembering that the actual lecture she and Majic received instructing them to keep the cores of their bodies dry and not to target the face, neck, or chest, ever because if the core of your body got cold, there could be dire consequences.

She suspected that Orphen felt guilty already and she was not going to rub that in. 'In fact,' she thought, 'I'd better to do a preemptive strike to stop that thinking. Wait, I know him, he's already started.' Her heart clenched at the next thought, 'Could…could that be the only reason he's been acting the way he's been? Probably, I knew better then to get my hopes…but still, I need to nip this in the butt. He has nothing to be guilty over. It's my fault. I started it.'

Choosing her next words carefully, she said, "And…one of those areas included the face and…um chest. And before you even think anything else, it was an accident. You had no way of knowing that at that exact moment my cloak would be open when you launched the branch. Had I stayed…"

"Stop it, Cleo." He said glaring at her, as he added some wood and coal to the fire.

"No…" She retorted, her anger rising. "Had I kept my cloak closed, it wouldn't have been an issue. It was freezing out, and to quote what you should have said if you weren't feeing guilty, 'What kind of ninny leaves their cloak open in the middle of nowhere with a storm rolling in?' And you'd be saying it if you weren't…" Cleo reared back looking up when Orphen suddenly appeared inches from her face.

"I said STOP IT!" Orphen growled, yanking her to her feet and flush against his body. "It's my fault!"

"No…" she answered automatically, even as she inwardly hissed when he pressed on some sore spots on her upper back. Pushing away, she looked him straight in the eye, "I knew better! I shouldn't have started a snowball fight and not expected you to retaliate. And then I hit you in the face, one of the areas we were told… told not to after Darius died! So stop blaming…"

"You know I hate apologizing. Maybe you shouldn't have but I one upped you. And…" Orphen's voice lowered to a near whisper as he more gently pulled her against him and continued into her hair. "I-I'm sorry."

"Me too." Cleo said looking up at him as she returned the hug.

Orphen enjoyed this hug until he registered something; she'd said a boy's name. A wave of possessiveness surged through him, 'She's mine!' Unconsciously, he tightened his hold on her until he felt her struggle a bit, before he was able to relax and squelch that train of thought by remembering his plan. Although, that might be a distraction to get her off blame and …Komikron, he prompted her, "Darius?"

"Oh…w-well," Cleo stopped shivering again, unsure whether it was from remembering Darius or that her temper had cooled and she started feeling the cold again. Either way, she could tell Orphen felt it.

"Hold that thought." Orphen said, letting her go and stepping away to grab the nearly dry blanket closest to the larger fire. He carefully wrapped it around her. "Now sit back down."

"But what about you…"

"I'll be fine. Remember I grew up in the mountains..."

"No. Either… um…either we," she gulped before continuing, "share or I'm g-going too…"

She started to struggle out of the blanket, even as Orphen was covering her back up. "Damn it… stop this Cleo. I'm dry…and not chilled. You need it more!"

"Share! Or get the other ones."

"No…one's blocking the snow and the other's too wet."

"But you're cold too!"

"I'll be fine, I'm used to it." He growled when she got the blanket loose and was almost immediately shivering again. 'Damn it girl, you never make things easy. You're just being yourself but damn it can't you just do as I tell you once in a while.' Knowing she wasn't going to give up and she was only making the cold worse for herself, he decided to give in, this time. "Fine, we'll share the damn thing, just stop fighting me!"

He grabbed the blanket from her, laid the blanket down and sat on part of it right next to the cart. Leaning back on the cart, he then beckoned her to sit between his legs again. She hesitated, but the promise of being warm overrode her trepidation at being that close to him. After all he was only doing it because she was cold and he felt guilty. Once she was sitting, he pulled her against him and brought the blanket around both of them, making absolutely certain she was completely covered by the blanket.

"Now…Darius?"

"Huh?... oh… um…okay but you still haven't finished telling me about Komikron."

"Oh… there's not much more to tell. Using up my power to get Hartia out like I did, I passed out. According to Master Childman, Hartia and I both did. It's a side effect of using too much magic during a storm void. When I woke up, Komikron…he…he was dead and I was being carried back to the tower in blankets still clutching a warming sphere."

"Passed out? Did that happen to Majic too? A-and a warming sphere? What's that?"

"Yeah." Orphen said his voice devoid of any emotion as he tried to repress the memories. "That's how it was my fault. After I passed out, Komikron must have been so worried about me that he used the last of his energy to activate the warming sphere, a magical globe of light and heat, to keep me warm…and alive."

Cleo sat quietly thinking about what happened to him, realizing that his situation wasn't that unlike hers. Only he apparently never got the message that it was an accident. 'How could they let him do that to himself? Bearing all that guilt for something that wasn't his fault. He was just a child and…and, I am so gonna give that Childman a piece of my…wait. I can't…but I've also met him, he wouldn't have just let Orphen believe it was his fault and Azalie, well, she had to have tried to pound some sense into him. No, Orphen took even Azalie's mistake on as his own, he apparently did the same with this Komikron. Even though he denies it, he always takes on the mistakes of those he cares about, apparently that even extends to me. He may seem selfish on the surface, but he thinks of others before himself. Why didn't I see it before? Now, how to help him?' She also wondered, 'Who the hell was Komikron anyway?'

"Um… how was it your fault Orphen? And…well, you never did say who Komikron was?"

"Komikron was my broth…" Orphen paused, grimacing, "He was another of Childman's apprentices like Hartia."

"Oh… You could have said it, Hartia's like a brother to you and so was Komikron. But Orphen," Cleo paused, reviewing the details of the story he'd told, "From what you've said, it doesn't sound like it was your fault."

"It was."

"Then tell me how?" She demanded, twisting in his arms to face him.

"I lived. He didn't." Orphen replied, turning her back to face front so he wouldn't have to face her.

"No," she growled, resisting him his attempts to avoid her eyes. "That's not how it works…"

"Oh and of course you're so wise."

"I know I'm not," she said, looking down, "you remind me often enough, but Orphen, using the facts you gave me, I don't see where it was your fault."

"Drop it! You don't know anything, you little brat!"

"Yes, I do." Her head snapped up as she fired back, "I know it's one of the few things you willingly repeat often. Did you cause the storm? No! Did you intentionally blow up his experiment? No! Did you ask him to give you the heating sphere? No! So how in the hell do you figure it was your fault?"

"You don't understand…"

"Understand what?" she turned and as she got up on her knees to look down at the still seated Orphen the blanket slipped to the ground. She had to make him understand, it wasn't his fault. "That you didn't cause the storm, which in turn caused the experiment to blow up and that you didn't make your brother save you. You were just a child. Or is that the problem, someone else saved you?" Cleo opened her mouth to gloat more but stopped herself after looking at his shocked face, suddenly doubting herself, 'Did I just go to far?' She fell back on her calves closing her eyes as she attempted to reign in her temper when she noticed how still he'd gotten. 'Yeah, I went too far.'

"I-I'm sorry," shuddering in worry about his reaction even as she felt the cold assault her now that the blanket had fallen off. Worse at the same time, the snow near the entrance shifted, causing a gust of cold air to move the hanging blankets and chill their shelter more.

Orphen literally was frozen. He was absolutely stunned and overwhelmed by myriad of emotions he was feeling. He was furious with her for yelling at him but he knew it came from her unshakeable faith in him. He'd heard similar phrases from all of them, Childman, Azalie, Tish, Lai and even Hartia, but to hear it from her as well. He wanted to believe, if only because it came from her, he didn't ever want to disappoint her or do anything to shake her faith in him. 'No, I refuse to be…I can't accept it. It was my fault… I didn't save …him. But, I was… only thirteen. And…' Orphen closed his eyes remembering the scene with Komikron, he'd been trapped by debris. Searching his memory, Orphen remembered, there was blood on the snow, Komikron's blood. 'Was it really the cold that killed him? Did he, could he have hidden how injured he was?' Orphen thought. 'But how could she pick up on that with what little I told her?'

That still didn't change the fact that she was still the single most frustrating woman he'd ever encountered. And the situation was even more frustrating for him, partly because he felt utterly helpless due to the storm, again. However, no matter distracting she was and how much he wanted to find other ways too keep her warm, he wasn't going to put up with her shouting at him. He tensed and opened his mouth to shout back when he saw her shiver again and noticed the swaying of the hanging blankets indicating that the snow had shifted again.

"Damn it! I need to check the other blankets and stoke the fire up more." He said as he quickly stood, wrapped the blanket around her again and made her sit back down by the fire.

"I-I went to far…didn't I? I-I really am sorry, Orphen."

"Not now, Cleo." Orphen snapped, adding more coal to both fires, even though they were both nicely burning.

"I didn't mean to make you m-mad… I was just trying…"

"I said not now!" He turned away from her and moved to the blankets separating them from the snow filled entrance.

"No I will not. Y-you're going to listen to me."

"Cleo." He warned, glaring back at her.

"What?" she fired back defiantly. "I'm not afraid of you."

"You damn well better not be!" he snarled. "Arrgh! We aren't doing this now." He moved one of the blankets so he could see past it and noticed that the snow at the entrance had shifted creating a small opening, which was currently filling. He heard her shout behind him and some movement which he thought might be her getting up again so turned back to level his most intimidating glare at her.

"Why? So you can continue to avoid the issue?" Cleo stopped momentarily considering getting up out of her blanket cocoon he'd wrapped her in but upon seeing his glare, she decided against it. She didn't cower under it either and pushed forward with her point. "You growl and piss me off so I run away then you get to avoid a topic when you I'm close to a sensitive topic. Well… I can't exactly run right now…and you don't need to continue to carry a guilt, that Komikron wouldn't want you to!"

"Don't pretend you know him or what he'd want, little girl! I said we're through discussing this."

"No, I won't back down this time…and No, I didn't know him. You did, so you ask yourself what he would have wanted for you." She paused, reaching out to him with one hand, even as she knew better then to get out from under the blanket. He looked up at him, pleading with her eyes to get him to listen, "I know I'm pushing, and I'm sorry. But I'm not going to let you feel guilty about this, I'm fine and I'll be fine."

"How in the hell do you know that?!?!"

"I'm with you."

Three simple words that completely summed up her faith in him, he knew she'd said that she was never afraid when she was with him before. But to say it again, even after he'd told her how he'd failed someone he cared about was just so… her. She had faith in him and wouldn't back down even when he doubted it. It reminded him again why he wanted to change things with her and never ever be parted from her again. He heard her continuing; babbling like she always did when she was insecure and he found himself smiling in spite of the memories they'd dredged up.

"Look what you've set up so far… fires, drying blankets and clothes plus water. It's cold yes, and if we slept too long, maybe it could be a problem… but with the fires and blanket, I think… no…I know we'll be fine. Besides, Majic will be coming after us as soon as possible. Oh…no!"

"What?" He couldn't suppress the grin on his face, she was about to change the subject all on her own.

"Majic… even if he slept for a while, as soon as he wakes up he'll try to find us. We have to…"

"Relax. Hartia was meeting us at the inn. He'll keep Majic safe inside until daylight." Orphen quickly checked both of the blankets near the snow. Although it was the one blocking the drafts from the entrance, one of the hanging blankets was dry.

"Oh…that's a relief, but… why?"

"Well… that was another reason for going to Sun Lake. Majic needs to spend some time at the Tower for focused concentration studies." He pulled down the dry blanket and draped it over his shoulder and moved the damp one so it would help resist the drafts coming from the entrance.

"Oh… so you were going to leave me alone in Sun Lake?"

"No." He answered shaking his head while he wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. "That's why Hartia was meeting us he's going to take Majic to the Tower." He sat down beside her and pulled her blanket-clad form against him once more before continuing in her ear. "We're staying together."

"Together?"

"Yeah." Orphen answered, unable to resist sinking his nose in her hair before remembering something she'd said earlier. 'Besides,' he thought, 'I'd rather not sleep until the storm is fading and my magic is returning. So more talking it is…but it's her turn.'

"So… you asked your questions…now for mine." He said before spitting out, "Darius?"

"Huh?" Cleo jumped slightly, as she'd been content just enjoying being close to him and finally starting to feel warm. Although how couldn't she, she was enveloped in one blanket, sitting by the fire and Orphen had just pulled her close adding part of his blanket to cover both of them. She was getting drowsy and knew for the first time since she'd entered the mine that it would be okay to rest. 'Still he had shared his story of Komikron with me I should return the favor but…why'd he say Darius' name like that. He almost sounded…no it couldn't be, but he almost sounded like he might be jealous.'

"Um… what's with the… venom?" Cleo teased, adding wistfully, "Careful Orphen or someone might think you were actually jealous."

For a moment, Orphen was speechless before he ground out, "You know better, when have I ever been jealous?" He dodged, knowing she was right and that the boy wasn't any threat except in memory, but that didn't change the questions he had about their relationship or the feelings that had surfaced unbidden. "Now am I going to have to drag the story out of you?"

"No…" she whispered, collecting her thoughts and pushing aside the hurt he always managed to invoke. 'Still he really sounded jealous but I must be mistaken… he-he doesn't care that way. Why do I let that hurt me, every time? Although, this whole debacle has shown me that he does care about me… in general, at least I know I'm not just the extra baggage that he always calls me.' In spite of the comfort and warmth, Cleo started to struggle to get up and move away from Orphen, but he refused to let her go.

"Let me go!"

"Never."

"Now you're sounding like you…" Cleo broke off knowing she really didn't want the answer to that question, assuming he'd actually acknowledge it if she finished. However, since that one word set her hopes soaring, she had to focus on viciously squelching it, reminding herself of the heartache she would experience if she didn't keep her guard up, rather then pay attention to him or the fact that he'd buried his nose in her hair again when he said never. She focused on keeping her guard up; to learn from the lessons she'd learned over the time she had traveled with Orphen. He was never jealous or possessive, at least not over her.

Orphen was waiting for her to finish her statement, ready to set her straight about a lot of things, even if it was not his original plan; they were alone, warming up and no one, not Majic or anyone else, would be interrupting them anytime soon. He was going to make this work, in spite everything that has happened and the fact that he probably should not do anything here. However, that issue seemed to be moot when he noticed that she tensed when she broke off.

'That's never a good sign.' He thought, 'so, what's it gonna be this time, Cleo, distraction or anger?' When she started looking around, he resisted sighing out loud, 'Distraction, it is.'

"Is it just me or is the blanket moving?"

He looked at the blanket by the entrance and unfortunately she was right it was moving, more then it should be unless more snow had dislodged and reopened the cave entrance. He groaned, but he'd have to go check it out. Otherwise their shelter could quickly become just as dangerous as being outside. He slipped out of his blanket, wrapping the remains of it back around her. "I'll check it out. Don't move. I'll be right back."

Cleo used the time while he was behind the blanket to attempt to put her defenses back up, shaking her head in frustration at how quickly she always let her guard down and got her hopes up. Even when she'd resolved that she had to keep her distance from him, one glance, one phrase and she completely melted. 'What's wrong with me? Am a glutton for punishment?' She sighed, snuggling back in to the blankets, half wishing that when he came back, he would return to hold her and half hoping he would not. She wanted to be close to him so badly, but it hurt so much that he didn't … well, love her the way she loved him. 'It's not the first time I've admitted that to myself, and probably not the last. If only…' she trailed off in her thoughts when she noticed Orphen was busy doing something again. He had gone from the area beyond the blanket near the entrance across their sanctuary and further into the mine. He was gone a while and then came back carrying some odd shaped pieces of metal and wood. After two transits, she asked, "W-what are you doing?"

He stopped, holding a few more pieces of metal he'd found deeper in the mine. "The snow has shifted at the entrance again. If we don't want it melting and the water running deeper into the mine potentially dousing our fires, I figured I'd better create better way to keep the snow from encroaching any further then it already has."

"L-let me help…" She moved to get up when Orphen's voice stopped her.

"No… stay under the blankets, this won't take long. Or haven't you noticed you're starting to shiver again?"

'Now that he mentioned it, I am cold,' she thought realizing that she had not noticed that she was not only cold again, but shivering. 'Makes sense though, once cold more susceptible, like… Darius.' Ruefully she noticed that much of the cold was due to the fact she let his blanket slide off her shoulders exposing her back, which had previously been snuggled against his warm chest. With a sigh, she pulled the blankets close again and was getting comfortably warm when Orphen re-entered the shelter and her stomach let loose an audible rumble.

"Unless you count snow, there's not much to eat."

"I thought there was some jerky in an outside pocket of the pack." Cleo said again, trying to get out of her blankets to go help.

"You get up…so help me, I'll turn you over my knee and warm your ass. I did not spend all this time getting you warm to have you mess it up."

"Fine. I actually try to help and you don't want it. I stay put and you grouse that I don't pull my weight. Make up your mind!"

"Cleo that's different and…" Orphen stopped, realizing she was drawing him in to an argument. 'Distraction and Anger…' he thought, 'is it really that sensitive to you Cleo. I'd have thought you'd want to know that every time some guy comes near you I want to rip their head or balls off. That the idea of loosing you wakes me up at night in a cold sweat.' Realizing she was waiting for him to continue, he continued out-loud with, "No. We aren't doing this. We have other things to talk about."

"O-other things?"

"Darius?" Orphen answered, forcing himself to keep his tone neutral while rifling through the pack and grabbing the pieces of jerky she mentioned before settling himself back behind her with the blankets around them both.

"Oh…w-well," she blushed in reaction to his proximity, "he… um, Darius, well, he was the first guy I ever kissed… err, well, kissed me. Although, we were both at the very mature age of seven when it happened. We… Majic, Darius, me and well, all the kids in Totokonta learned the risks of hitting someone in the chest…or the core of the body. You see…um, well I guess I better explain that at eleven, Darius was a cocky little ass….um kid. And well, as you can understand, that didn't make him very popular at times." Cleo paused when she noticed Orphen holding something in front of her, realizing it was some jerky, she took it before continuing.

"He… um announced to everyone that he could beat us all in a snowball fight. You know that we… err, I couldn't back down from such a challenge and we, Majic, me and the other kids rallied against him. We coated him from head to toe in snow. After the dose of humiliation, we still kept playing for a few hours and he got cold…really cold. Then the adults came and we got the scolding of our lives. Plus we were all grounded for several days. When we were finally able to get out again… Darius didn't join us. In fact, although we didn't know it then, that would be the last time we played together. He got sick after he got so cold…it was just a cold, but it kept him inside. The illness left him weakened so when a nasty flu epidemic hit, he caught that too. And…and…didn't survive."

Cleo paused again wondering if she could get away with this before she continued, "We all got sick, but if I hadn't gotten him so cold and wet, he'd have been able to throw it off like the rest of us did. So even though we were told…he got sick and then sicker, but we knew better. It was our fault…"

"How? Did you cause the flu?

"No, but we got him so cold that he was weakened so when he caught the flu…"

"That's crap, and you know it."

Cleo took a deep breath mentally bracing herself for the explosion she knew would come, "Just like it's crap that you caused Kromikron's death?"

"DAMN IT!" Orphen shouted, standing and dumping her out of his lap. He was about to step away from her when he saw her shiver again. He growled, before sitting back down and pulling her against him. "Don't pull that psychology shit on me?"

Cleo turned to face him. "Maybe I shouldn't, but that doesn't change the facts. The tragedies weren't our faults. And if we could have changed things we would have."

"Just shut up."

"Your typical response. When I'm right you tell me to shut up. You can't stand it when I'm right. You may be a sorcerer Orphen, but I've got news for you. You're not perfect. You can't save everyone."

"I know that damn it! Now drop it."

"Obviously you don't or you'd be able to accept that you can only do your best! I mean, look at what you've done here. You took what Majic started and made it comfortable in spite of blizzards and avalanches."

"I had to or you would have froze to death."

"Maybe. Maybe not. I'm not helpless. Besides, Majic's fire was going good. And… and I would have thought of making a second fire…" silently she finished the sentence with, 'eventually.'

"No you wouldn't have. And we're not having this argument. Eat." He concluded, pointing at the jerky still in her hand.

"What's wrong, we fight all the time, don't we. And even you have to admit, it warms the blood."

"Warms…" Orphen repeated, noticing again how close she was under the blankets, what she occasionally rubbed against and how close their faces were. 'To hell with waiting,' he thought bringing his arms up around her.

"I'll give you warmth." He said, pulling her tightly against him while moving his hand up from her behind her shoulder to the nape of her neck, positioning her head as he leaned his face in to claim her lips.

* * *

"Are you sure this is the mine, Majic?" Hartia asked as they were approaching the cliffs just outside of Sun Lake. "The cliffs all look the same to me." 

They'd left town just after sunrise and breakfast, bringing extra provisions along for the 'stranded pair' as Majic dubbed them. Although Hartia tried to delay Majic further, breakfast was all Majic would stand for. He had wanted to leave the Inn as soon as the storm broke around two that morning. Not knowing what they'd find, Hartia insisted they walk. He knew that Orphen and Cleo would be fine. The reason to delay until full morning was simple survival, disturbing Orphen before his morning coffee was, in a word, dangerous. Doubly so if you disturbed him after a night alone with Cleo, which Hartia suspected was both heaven and hell for Orphen. Well, come to think of, the same could be said for Cleo, too.

"Yes. And not just because of the location. Look." Majic answered pointing at the blue Wolven pup comfortably curled up at the open entrance.

"I see… but that isn't all, is it Majic? What else? Can you sense anything?"

"Um…" Majic muttered as he tried to get a feel for what Hartia was asking, "Oh…sorcery…coming from the cave."

"So it looks like you were wrong Majic, Cleo didn't kill him."

"True…but she's smart too. She would have waited until he cast some warming spells beforehand…"

Laughing Hartia replied, "Well… I guess we should be good friends then and help her bury the body."

Majic laughed as they crossed the last few steps to get to the entrance. Majic stopped momentarily to pet Leki before he and Hartia continued into the mine. Leki moved to block Majic's entry growling slightly. Majic just picked up a struggling Leki as he and Hartia entered the opening.

* * *

Momentarily, they both came running out of the cave with a white energy bolt at their heels. Diving into the snow, they dodged the bolt. Sitting up breathing heavily, Majic looked back to see Leki resume his guarding position at the entrance of the cave. Majic growled back at Leki, "Why didn't you warn us?" 

"He did." Hartia replied. "He doesn't usually growl at you, does he?"

"Well… no. But …he… and…

"Don't fret Majic. You know that was a long time coming. Not exactly what I would call the most romantic place for… well, you know."

"Um… I-I'm so not thinking about that." Majic said shuddering, "Anyway, do you think he was serious about getting the justice of the peace to the inn in an hour?"

"Absolutely. He's not one make a mistake about that. And for the other, why can't I make a mistake like that?""

"What mistake?"

"Getting trapped in a cave with a woman I've wanted for years, all alone, where she must snuggle with me for warmth and survival, with no chance of interruptions."

"Oh…so her hitting him in the face with the snowball and dumping snow down his pants was the best mistake she ever made. Though, I guess them being stuck in the cave together did them some good since they worked out their differences."

"I swear Majic, you're just like them. Not a romantic bone in your body. I mean really, a rushed wedding at the Justice of the Peace after a wild night of debauchery. Now that's what I call romantic." Hartia gushed, while clasping his hands together over his heart.

Majic shook his head, muttering "Master Hartia, that'd be more effective if you were a fourteen year old girl, not singed and covered in snow. I still don't understand, it's not like they have to marry. It won't save her reputation, so she doesn't have to marry him…" Majic broke off, remembering something.

"That was a low blow Majic. After all, I wasn't even posing as my alter ego." Hartia teased, before turning more serious, "Besides weren't you the one who confirmed things for me. Have you so little confidence in them?"

Majic looked back at the entrance to the mine, noticing that there was a purple flash, indicating more magic was being used in the mine. He smiled slightly before nodding in reply to Hartia's question.

"Now consider, this wasn't exactly a spontaneous occurrence, I was meeting the three of you to take you to the tower with me for additional, and necessary, training. However that was also so they could talk. Truthfully, I was expecting to be called back in the middle of the lessons for either a wedding or funeral… but now…well, it looks like the next time you join them, they'll probably be announcing her pregnancy."

"Pre-pregnancy?" Majic's eyes widened, as he thought of something truly terrifying. "Pregnancy, her pregnant…and then a child…like her… with his sorcery. Um… Master Hartia, is-is it too late to go to the other tower…or continent?

"What abandoning them with no worries about his feelings or hers or if the relationship will work out? Where's your curiosity?"

"Oh. No. I-I know Cleo. She wouldn't have agreed to…well to anything, unless… well, unless they talked and he convinced her of how he felt.. err his feelings. If… well I guess he does since he's the one who ordered us to get the Justice of the Peace."

"Him convincing her…but what about Krylancelo? Doesn't he deserve to know…"

"Master Hartia, he knows how she feels. She wears her heart on her sleeve. And if he actually admitted how he felt…she'd quickly respond in kind."

"Would she?" Hartia cocked an eyebrow at Majic.

"Yeah…well, once she believed it."

"But…he's crazy about her."

"Well…she's crazy about him!" Majic exclaimed, adding with a shrug, "But even I didn't know how he felt."

"So I didn't know how she felt about him."

"Um… Master Hartia. What are we doing here debating this in the snow?" Majic asked looking towards the town.

"Delaying the inevitable." Hartia replied, looking back towards the mine.

"Huh?"

"Going back into the mine."

"No, I meant going to… why the mine again?"

"Unless I miss my guess, they teleported out a minute ago. Or didn't you notice the flash and magic surge."

"What!?! Why didn't you say something sooner. We'd better get back." Majic turned and started walking back to Sun Lake.

"No…" Hartia grasped Majic's arm stopping him before he continued, "now that they've left, we'll get the packs out of the cave and then go back."

"But…um… if we don't get the Justice of the Peace before…"

"And you're the one who says he knows Cleo so well…" Hartia said rolling his eyes, "Even I know this one, what is she going to want to do for a long time after being cold and dirty?"

"Oh yeah." Majic grinned, "I guess my days of peeping on her in the bath are over. Well since we have time…" He added while walking back to the mine entrance, "I'll get the packs. You can get the pup."

"No way. I'll get the packs, you get the pup."

Leki solved the discussion, walking past both of them although he paused and lifted his leg against a tree before kicking snow, yellow snow, on both of them.

"I guess he showed us." Hartia groused, wrinkling his nose as he wiped the snow off. "But he's right, we need to get the packs and get about doing our errand."

"Yes, plus we need to get the odds on whether their first kid will be a boy or a girl."

"Hmm… what about odds on twins?" Hartia said walking toward the mine, wincing as he realized he didn't want them to have twins, they had had too much trouble with the last set of sorcerer twins.

"We'll discuss that later." Majic said starting to whistle as he followed Hartia.

* * *

There's only a short humorous epilogue to come. Hope you all enjoyed it! 

And a big thank you to everyone who read and reviewed, I do try to respond individually if you're signed in or include your E-mail address although I admit I've been really busy the last couple of weeks and haven't gotten to everyone, I will though. Anyway special thanks go out to those who took the time to review: Ayumi –Night Beauty-, Chairleg01, CLEAO girl, Irondevil, The Black Crow, and Wildefire's Flame.


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